Integrating Systems Safety into Systems Engineering during Concept Development

Safety should be designed into systems from their very conception, which can be achieved by integrating powerful hazard analysis techniques into the general systems engineering process. The primary barrier to achieving this objective is the lack of effectiveness of the existing analytical tools during early concept development. This paper introduces a new technique, which is based on a more powerful model of accident causality—called systems-theoretic accident model and process (STAMP)—that can capture behaviors that are prevalent in these complex, software-intensive systems. The goals are to (1) develop rigorous, systematic tools for the analysis of future concepts in order to identify potentially hazardous scenarios and undocumented assumptions, and (2) extend these tools to assist stakeholders in the development of concepts using a safety-driven approach.

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